TikTok faces US ban deadline as users brace for fallout By Reuters

(Reuters) – TikTok was rocked by nervous anticipation in the United States on Saturday as a looming federal ban threatened to cut off access to the Chinese-owned app that has captivated nearly half of all Americans, empowered small businesses and shaped an online culture.

The company said late Friday that it would go dark in the United States on Sunday unless President Joe Biden’s administration gives assurances to companies such as Apple ( NASDAQ: ) and Google that they will not face enforcement action when the ban takes effect. :

The ban would take effect under a law signed by President Joe Biden in April and would mark the first shutdown of a major social media app in the US, where TikTok boasts about 170 million domestic users and an estimated $20 billion in revenue by 2025.

The platform has until Sunday to cut ties with its China-based parent ByteDance or shut down its US operations to address concerns that it poses a national security threat.

Supreme Court justices upheld the ban in a unanimous decision on Friday, and the White House said in a statement that Biden would take no action to save TikTok before the deadline.

Without Biden’s decision to formally invoke the 90-day deadline delay, companies that provide services to TikTok or host the app could face legal liability. It’s unclear whether TikTok’s business partners, including Apple, Alphabet (NASDAQ 🙂 Google and Oracle (NYSE: ) will continue to trade until Trump’s inauguration on Monday.

Uncertainty over the app’s future has prompted users, mostly young people, to try alternatives, including China’s RedNote.Rivals Meta ( NASDAQ: ) and Snap also saw their shares rise this month ahead of the ban, as investors were betting on user traffic and advertising dollars.

Marketing companies that depend on TikTok rushed to prepare contingency plans this week, in what one executive described as a “hair-on-fire” moment after months of conventional wisdom saying a solution would be reached to keep the app going. :

There are signs that TikTok could make a comeback under incoming US President Donald Trump, who wants to pursue a “political solution” to the problem and last month urged the Supreme Court to halt the ban.

Trump said on Friday that the decision on the future of the TikTok app would be his, but he did not provide any details on what steps he would take. Media reports say he is considering an executive order that would suspend enforcement of the TikTok sales or ban law for 60 to 90 days.

TikTok CEO Zhou Ziqiu plans to attend the inauguration of the US president on January 20 and sit among the high-ranking guests invited by Trump, a source told Reuters.

The suitors, including former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, have expressed interest in the fast-growing business, which analysts estimate could be worth as much as $50 billion.Beijing has also been in talks to take over TikTok’s US operations, according to media reports. Of selling to Trump ally Elon Musk, though the company has denied that.

Privately held ByteDance is about 60% owned by institutional investors such as BlackRock (NYSE: ) and General Atlantic, while its founders and employees own 20% each.It has more than 7,000 employees in the US